The Artistic and Political Repercussions of the French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political changes and creative movements. The
temperament, interests, and conversations within France fluctuated greatly, producing new ways
of thinking. On one hand, politically, the country was experiencing a regime change resulting in
democracy and human rights for the first time in Frances history. On the other hand, artistically,
the creative society in France was both causing and influenced by the revolution. To this day,
research done in the field of Political Science is deeply focused on the governments structure
and intellectual thought of the time, including great philosophers, politicians and revolutionaries.
Though Art History does absorb of these elements too, it mainly focuses on how art movements
in France were artists criticisms of the political turmoil leading to the revolution. The fields of
both Political Science and Art History were greatly influenced by this time period in France. The
French Revolution gives a great foundation for considering the different ways each field examine
social movements and cultural changes. Through looking at a book and an article from each
discipline, this essay will examine the writing and literary practices of both Art History and
Political Science via their specific treatment of the oft-examined French Revolutionary period.
Though French Revolution literature is abundant in both fields, the emphasized elements
of the Revolution are different. In other words, what is imperative in one discipline, is not
necessarily relevant to the other. Within the discipline of Art History, the article by Amy Freund,
The Citoyenne Tallien: Women, Politics, and Portraiture during the French Revolution stood
out because of its focus on portraiture and how this artistic specialty expanded and reflected the
revolutionary attitudes and development of revolution in France. In particular, the article is very
focused on drawing relationships between portraiture and political action. Additionally, a book

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series by Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment titled Rococo Echo: Art, History and
Historiography from Cochin to Coppola parallels French history and artistic movements
including the Rococo era. In the field of Political Science an article by Nicolai Von Eggers called
When the People Assemble, the Laws Go Silent Radical Democracy and the French
Revolution focuses on the French political revolution and dramatic shift in government while
discussing how this political movement has been forgotten in our current understanding of
democracy. Additionally, a book from the UCSB library titled Burke, Paine, Godwin, and the
Revolution Controversy has a chapter titled Edmund Burke 3. Reflections on the Revolution in
France (1790) dedicated to Edmund Burke, an English philosopher of the time. Which consists
of his reflections and thoughts of the French Revolution. This chapter outlines an outside
thinkers observations of the French Revolution while it was happening. Together these fields
give scholars a comprehensive understand of how citizens feel about the revolutions versus the
elite and politically powerful.
The goals of this Art History discourse community is to educate students about the
meaning and context of art in France during this turbulent time. Art History values the
individuality of each art piece, the artist, and the effect each please has on the public. Art History
is in Humanities and, thus, focuses on open discussion and individual interpretation.
Furthermore, in regards to Art Historys classroom practices, the art that is presented is
historically significant and will be teeming with metaphors and meaning. Each masterpiece is
analyzed thoroughly in class and by the student. By only exposing new members to the most
important pieces, the scholars are more inclined to participate in this community because it is
more accessible and relevant.

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This Political Science discourse communitys ambition is to reflect on the significance of
Frances democracy at the time and how it applies to current politics and government. Also in the
Humanities, the classes are based on analysis and interpretation. Students are given the
opportunity to form their own theories and arguments based on the readings and lectures
presented. This discourse community values the relationship between politically significant
individuals, like Robespierre for example, and governments transformation. At first, Political
Science is quite broad and theoretical. By narrowing in on the effects of the French Revolution,
the discourse community is more effective in recruiting members because the topic becomes
more tangible. For instance, Eggers discusses radical democracy and revolutionaries as trying to
develop a political system in which popular checks on political rule could be enforced by the
people.1 This is a quite broad and intimidating concept; however, it becomes more palpable
when he explains how it will be instituted: with rule of law, private property, and the
Rechtstaats monopoly on legitimate violence.2 Though, admittedly, still using Political Science
vernacular makes these topics less accessible generally, members of the community can
understand the broader concepts when narrowed into definable subjects like rule of law rather
than political rule. The strategy of using tangible topics to explain theoretical ones is practical
for recruiting new members into a discourse community.
Successful writing, in any field, is intriguing with solid evidence and analysis. In Art
History, good writing includes specific meanings of the details in an artwork. In contrast, the
Political Science field is focused on the implications of general theory and how they are applied
and affected by events. Literary practices shared by these two disciplines include the diversity of
narrative writing as well as distant voice depending on content. When discussing an art
1 Nicolai Von Eggers, When the People Assemble, the Laws Go Silent Radical Democracy
and the French Revolution. Constellations CONSTELLATIONS 23.2 (2016), 265.
2 Ibid, 265.

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movement, the revolution, or the political structure of France, Art History and Political Science
alike use their distinctive, distant voices. However, when each dive into individual perspectives,
they adapt a narrative tone. Additionally, a literary practice shared between these two fields is
their use of evidence based on historical events, and individual citizens personal experiences or
observations. In Art History, the individuals are relevant artists as well as the figures depicted in
that art. Notably however, in Political Science, the citizens do not necessarily need to be from the
time or place of the event in order to be significant. For instance, following the revolution itself,
France went through a period called La Grande Peur that ended because Robespierre
imprisoned Talliens lover which lead to him leading a coup-dtat. This national drama,3 was
represented in a portrait by Jean-Louis Laneuville depicting The Citizen [Citoyenne] Tallien in
a prison cell at La Force, holding her hair which had just been cut.4 This piece represents the
turn of a turbulent period of France and is a key piece in the art and social movements of the
time. It is effective to use individual examples to understand the art movement, political thought,
the people in power, and the common citizens of the time. Art and writing are windows into
those opinions and act as a basis for claims made about the French Revolution. The use of
primary sources, personal statements, and reflections in order to specify a more general theory or
argument is a tool used by both fields in order to analyze the French Revolution.
Though initially one would not expect these disciplines to be quantitative, another
similarity between these two field are their use of basic statistics in order to emphasize points.
For instance, when Freund makes the argument that portraiture is increasingly more important
and popular during The French Revolution she quotes: the statistics from the official Salon
exhibitions testify to the growing visibility of portraiture. Between 1789 and 1791, the number of
3 Amy Freund, The Citoyenne Tallien: Women, Politics, and Portraiture during the French
Revoluiton Art Bulletin 93, no. 3 (2011), 326.
4 Ibid, 326.

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portraits exhibited at the Salon more than doubled, and the totals continued to rise steadily over
the Revolutionary period.5 This is also a common practice in the field of Political Science where
experts use these statistics to build their own credibility and back their arguments with simple
statistics.
The lexis used by both fields are academic and specific to the field. In Art History, one is
expected to understand the proper diction. For instance, the understanding of depiction,6
background,7 or Rococo8 are necessary in order to grasp the meaning of the readings and art
pieces. Same goes for Political Science, but to a lesser extent. One needs to know the definition
of words like radical democracy,9or sovereignty,10 but these words are less specific to one
field and more generally understood. The use of these words (without any definition) is an
indicator of who the audience is for these authors. As these are scholars writing to one another,
they write with the assumption that readers understand the necessary diction to discuss the
French Revolution in the context of the field.
In Art History, some argue that the artists influence the revolution and others argue that
the revolution influences the artists. This field provides evidence for both and expects the
audience to draw their own conclusions. This field reflects on the peoples feelings towards the
government. In contrast, in Political Science the argument is less about causation, and more
about implications and how the events that occurred affected the current political status and the
definition of democracy. These journals are more focused on the conceptual nature of
5 Ibid, 329.
6 Ibid., 326.
7 Ibid., 326.
8 Melissa Lee Hyde and Kate Scott, ed., Rococo Echo: Art, History and Historiography from
Cochin to Coppola (Oxford: Oxford Voltaire Foundation, 2014), 72.
9 Eggers, When the People Assemble, the Laws Go Silent Radical Democracy and the French
Revolution, 268.
10 Ibid., 256.

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government, rather than the people in the revolution. The field is about ideas and how they are
applied to the world in a very general way, not individuals.
Together, they shape the topic of the French Revolution and how we study it. By
studying both Political Science and Art History one is given access to the government and the
citizens point of view in order to fully grasp the causes, results, and effects of the revolution.
The evidence used in Art History is based on the contents, artistic choices, and how every
element of an art piece is meticulously chosen emphasize the artists interpretations. In contact,
the evidence in Political Science is largely based on traditional philosophers opinions and
people involved or relevant to the political conflict, not solely observers. Political art postRevolution can be observed and understood better through these analyses; just as current
democracy is better understood after one applies the revolutionary political thought to political
movements in developing countries.

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Bibliography
Burke, Paine, Godwin, and the Revolution Controversy. Edited by Marilyn Butler. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, n.d.: 33-49.
Eggers, Nicolai Von. When the People Assemble, the Laws Go Silent Radical Democracy and
the French Revolution. Constellations CONSTELLATIONS 23.2 (2016): 255-68.
Academic Search Complete.
Freund, Amy. the Citoyenne Tallien: Women, Politics, and Portraiture during the French
Revoluiton. Art Bulletin 93, no. 3 (September 2011): 325-344. Academic Search
Complete.
Lee Hyde, Melissa, and Kate Scott, ed. Rococo Echo: Art, History and Historiography from
Cochin to Coppola. Oxford: Oxford Voltaire Foundation, 2014.